The Ultrasound - a Bethyl Drabble
by Hearts1989
Summary: Beth and Daryl are at the doctor's office, getting ready to find out the sex of their baby. Full of Bethyl fluffiness and great Daryl-y angst.


Bethyl Drabble: The Ultrasound

Beth waited in the waiting room, trying not to bite her nails as she often did when she was nervous. She stared at the picture on the wall of all the doctors in the practice. They were all holding babies in the nursery of Women's Hospital which was right across the street.

She smoothed her hand over her growing belly. She was five months along now and really starting to show a lot. It was almost as if overnight she had gone from having a flat stomach to looking pretty pregnant. Beth didn't mind in the least. The baby had started kicking a couple of weeks ago. At first, before that, it had felt like little flutterings inside much like a baby bird flaps its wings against its mother before learning how to fly. She flattened her palm against the surface of her stomach and smiled softly when she felt a slight kick where she rested her hand.

She glanced at the watch on that same arm and looked to the door expectantly. He had called on her cell a little while ago to tell her he was running late. He said Atlanta traffic was a beast and he was going to get there as fast as he could. He had sounded nervous but sure of himself. Beth smiled. She could imagine him chewing on his thumb as he sat in traffic waiting for it to clear, all the while scanning the side streets for a quicker route.

She thought back to the day she had told him she was pregnant. He knew she had bought the test but she had wanted to wait for another day before taking it, almost like she had to work up her nerve to do it. She had wanted to call Maggie so badly but she knew she would just rush over there and force her to take the test. Daryl had totally respected her wish to wait one more day. He didn't say anything but Beth knew he was nervous about the prospect of becoming a father. It was just like him, always worrying that he was going to turn out like his father. She had told him countless times but she figured they would have to wait until the baby got here. She knew as soon as he saw their son or daughter and held them in his arms, all his doubts would melt away. He would know that he would never be anything like his father. He was about as far from the mean old drunk that a person could get.

Daryl for all his quiet ways, had a heart of gold and he never ceased to amaze her the tenderness he had for nearly everything concerning Beth. She had wanted to get pregnant for the past couple of years but he had been very resistant. But when Lori and Rick had Judith, that had sealed the deal. He had taken a liking to her and what was more, Judy absolutely adored Daryl. He had taken to calling her Lil Ass Kicker and it kind of stuck. Beth loved that little girl dearly but really seeing Daryl holding Judy was like witnessing a sunrise. You are amazed and in awe and afraid if you look away for one tiny second, you will miss the whole thing.

Beth's heart beat just a little faster thinking about how Daryl was going to react when he held a child of their own. Beth knew that they would have to have several boxes of Kleenex in the delivery room for all the tears of joy that would be shed. Beth and Daryl hadn't always had it easy. They had a rocky start to their relationship. They had fought terribly when they first met and could not stand each other. The attraction between them was so powerful though and in the end, they hadn't been able to fight it. She blushed when she thought about the first time they had finally made love. They had been incredibly tender with one another at first but once they really got things going, it was just a massive tangle of arms and legs and this furious burning need to consume one another completely. They had nearly set her bed on fire that first time and it had smoldered through the next three times that night alone. It was probably at least a week before they could actually make slow sweet love to each other. That was when Beth had cried and knew that she loved him beyond anything she had ever known. She had been so afraid to tell him but in the heat of the moment he had said it to her anyway.

That was three years ago and now here they were getting ready to find out the sex of their baby. She glanced at the door again and then looked at her cell to make sure she hadn't missed any calls or texts from him. She wanted him to hurry and get there sure; but she wanted him to be safe about it. He was not the most patient man in the world and she knew he was probably cursing out every driver on the road as he found his way here.

The door to the doctor's office opened. "Elizabeth Dixon?" she called.

Beth wanted to stall but stood up anyway. She approached the door where the ultrasound technician was holding it open, smiling at her. "My husband isn't here yet. Can someone watch for him?" She all the sudden felt like she was going to cry. They had waited for this moment for weeks and he was going to miss it. He would be devastated. They were getting a DVD recording, but Beth knew that it wouldn't be the same.

"I'm Nancy", she said smiling and she nodded at Beth. "I will tell the secretary to be on the lookout for him."

Beth smiled at her, feeling a little relieved. "Tell her that he'll be the one busting through the door, looking all nervous and probably scowling. He looks scary like that, but he is completely harmless." Beth rolled her eyes for effect.

The technician laughed. "Aren't they all that way? I'll be right back Mrs. Dixon." She said as she walked away. Beth watched her walk behind the desk and speak to the secretary who nodded her understanding. Beth could see the door through the secretary's window out to the waiting area. Still no sign of him.

The technician rejoined her in the hallway. "Can I use the bathroom first?" Beth asked. She had a huge bottle of water on the way over and with the extra weight of the baby lately, it was getting harder and harder to keep from going to the bathroom every hour. Besides, maybe it would give Daryl the extra time to get there.

The technician smiled softly at her. "Of course" She said as she led the way to a small door that led to a clean and functional bathroom. Beth took care of business, taking care to wash her hands for a long time to stall even longer. Finally finding nothing else to do, she opened the door and the lady picked up her chart again and motioned for Beth to follow her down the hall.

They stopped at a small room with a fair amount of computers. It was dimly lit for obvious reasons. The technician motioned for Beth to get onto the exam table. Beth stood on the step designed for just that purpose and got onto the table, kicking her feet against the table slightly while the technician got all the equipment ready.

Beth could see the ultrasound screen off to the side. It was positioned to the side where the technician and Beth and Daryl would both be able to see the baby. It was dark and black now but letters were appearing where the Nancy was typing in the demographics for her patient. "Elizabeth Dixon, 22 years of age, 20 weeks and 1 day." Beth laid back on the table as Nancy brought the paper sheet over and tucked it into the waistband of Beth's maternity pants. She had just started wearing them last week so they were still sort of loose but it was no longer an option to wear her jeans, even with the button undone. She glanced at the door again and sighed deeply. He wasn't going to make it.

"I'm going to put this gel on your belly." Nancy stated as she positioned the bottle of warmed gel over Beth's abdomen and squeezing out a generous amount and then distributed it evenly. Beth was glad that it wasn't at least the cold gel they used to listen to the baby's heartbeat on every visit.

Just then there was a knock at the door and Beth's heart just about jumped out of her chest. Beth looked to Nancy.

"The surly husband?" Nancy joked and Beth laughed even though there were tears starting to prick at the corners of her eyes. Damn pregnancy hormones, she thought as Nancy walked over to open the door.

And then there he was, her husband, Daryl Dixon, standing in the doorway, very out of breath and his brow furrowed and creased. As soon as the door was open, he strode across the room coming up beside her on the table and he leaned down and placed a very purposeful kiss on her lips. It thrilled Beth that it still gave her chills and sent a wave of heat down her spine all at once every time he kissed her. She wondered if every couple felt this way.

Daryl pulled his lips away from Beth and sat down in the chair provided and tried to steady his breath. "I didn't think I was gonna make it, Princess." He murmured, nuzzling her neck as he took her hand.

Beth giggled and tilted her head down. "I didn't either. God I am so glad you are here." She whispered. "You didn't tell Rick where you were going did you?" Beth asked. They wanted to keep their appointment a secret. No one knew they were here finding out the sex except for Maggie and Glenn, who had sworn they wouldn't tell a soul. Beth had threatened Glenn with his life. He was no good at keeping secrets and the whole family knew it. He had sworn he wouldn't breathe a word. They were still deciding how they wanted to tell people.

Daryl shook his head at Beth's question as the technician came back over and tilted the screen back towards her, starting to type more stuff in the laptop. She looked at them. "As soon as I get it set up, I will turn it back around for you to see." She explained and Daryl nodded at her.

Nancy had positioned the ultrasound wand over her belly and was moving it around different places. Beth was very glad she had gone to the bathroom before she had come in here. Although it had been a stalling tactic at the time, that trip was probably going to save this lady's exam table. She was using a fair amount of pressure and her bladder didn't really like it.

"Nah, he didn't even ask where I was going. I left him at the station filling out paperwork from that bust last night." Daryl snaked his hand up her arm and slid his arm behind her head while sitting beside her. Daryl and Rick were partners at the Atlanta Police Department. They worked in inner city Atlanta and it was dangerous but Daryl wouldn't have it any other way. He loved his job and working with his partner was like working with someone who had the other half of your brain. They had incredible instincts and worked great together. They were known as the dynamic duo in their precinct. Just in the last year they had taken down at least a dozen drug rings and had apprehended more murderers than he could count.

"Okay guys are you ready?" Nancy asked the couple.

Beth looked to Daryl a little nervously. "You ready?" she asked him, taking a deep breath. They were getting ready to have a first glimpse of their child. It was a huge moment.

Daryl looked at Beth tenderly and squeezed her shoulder gently. "Never been more ready for anythin' in my life." He whispered for only her to ear.

She smiled and they both nodded to Nancy who turned the screen around to show them. She then simultaneously turned up the volume so they could hear it.

Beth didn't know which to concentrate more on first; the rapid galloping of the heartbeat on the screen which said it was beating 140 beats a minute. Oddly it felt like Beth's heart might be beating that fast. But there on the screen, Beth saw the profile of her baby. Their baby. The tears started falling then. She looked to her husband to catch his reaction and she fell in love all over again at the look of rapture on his face. He could not tear his eyes away from it.

When the lady turned the screen around to face them, Daryl knew in that moment that he was in no way prepared for the way his heart broke a little bit at this first glimpse of their baby. He was going to be a father. The thought reverberated around in his mind. And for the first time, instead of feeling dread, Daryl felt something else. Hope.

His mouth went dry and he could feel tears welling behind his eyes. Dixons never cry. That's what his old man had drilled into his head from day one. That had been true enough he supposed then. But that was before any Dixon had met Beth Greene. Anyone who met her and had one minute to listen to her impassioned about something and her incessant hope and faith in mankind, well they couldn't help but be worn down eventually. That was what had happened to him at least. And now, it seemed like he was being broken down a little more. Daryl brought his arm back from around Beth. He needed to hold her hand so he would have something more substantial to hold onto. He looked down at Beth who was crying to and he just went ahead and let his tears fall. It was just the two of them and hell, she'd seen him cry before. Besides that, he wanted her to see him so happy about this. He leaned down and pressed the softest kiss to her lips. "It's our baby, Beth." He whispered.

Beth's heart swelled. She knew she had never felt as full as she felt just then. "I know. Ours." She whispered back.

They turned their eyes back to the screen finally and Nancy started pointing out different things with her free hand, typing things in and moving the wand around, pressing here and there. "Here is the baby's head. It's nose and face. Here's the outline of the lips."

Beth didn't need for her to tell her any of those things. It was so clear on the screen, the profile of the baby's face, the soft rounded head coming up and then the tiny little nose that looked suspiciously like Beth's nose and the itty bitty perfectly bow-shaped mouth that then opened in a little yawn and Beth just made a little cry. "Awww." And then the tears started again. She glanced at Daryl again who was smiling. Honest to God smiling. It happened so infrequently; he didn't like his smile. It was a shame, really; it looked damn good on him, that broad smile that he let loose when he was really happy about something and didn't have the thought to be self-conscious about it. Beth smiled in automatic response.

"Do you want to know the sex of the baby? I can see." The technician looked at them expectantly.

Daryl and Beth looked at each other. They had talked about this. The reason they didn't want to tell anyone where they were going was they hadn't decided if they wanted to know the sex of the baby or not. They had to tell Glenn and Maggie. Not only was it her sister, but this was Maggie they were talking about. She would not rest the remainder of Beth's pregnancy unless she knew what the baby was so she could go out and buy every single cute baby thing she could get her hands on. Maggie was quite the shopaholic and it was a good thing Glenn had such a great job with computer firm as a programmer. He had designed and programmed several apps for cellular phones and it had earned him quite a bit of notoriety.

Daryl looked into Beth's eyes and they glinted with mischief. He knew what that meant. They turned back to the technician and nodded at her. Beth had wanted to have a reveal party where they would reveal the baby's sex to everyone. "We want to know." Beth said strongly.

They held their breath as Nancy pointed the cursor to something that resembled a turtle on the screen. Beth was confused and tilted her head to the side. When Beth saw the words "It's a Boy" appear on the screen, she let out a little hiccupped sob.

Daryl looked up at the ceiling for a moment and let out the breath he had been holding and leaned over Beth and kissed her softly on the lips and buried his face in her neck, staying there for just a moment, capturing this moment and committing it to memory.

Beth brought her hands up to Daryl's head where it was nestled between her shoulder and her chin. She ran one hand lightly through his hair and sniffled a bit. "It's a boy." She echoed what Nancy had just told them and Daryl finally lifted his head and looked her in the eye.

"We're going to have a son." He was in awe and Beth felt a laugh spill from her.

"Yes baby we are. A little boy that is going to be so handsome, just like his daddy." She said softly, smiling at him.

Daryl looked down at her and rolled his eyes. "Nah, he's going to look just like his mama. Blonde hair that'll probably be curly and unruly."

Beth smiled wistfully and they both said at the same time. "He'll have blue eyes." And they laughed.

All the sudden Beth could not wait for the rest of this pregnancy to pass quickly so they could meet him in person. Beth sat up slightly to get a better look. He looked so perfect and he kept moving his hand up and putting his thumb in his mouth. It was so endearing and Beth could not believe she could love a person so much that she had not even met yet.

Daryl looked down at his beautiful wife, watching the screen and he knew she was just going to be the best mother in the world. He was going to have a little boy. Daryl suddenly thought of all the softball games and fishing trips and Boy Scouts; all the things that Daryl had never had a chance to experience. He had never claimed to be a perfect person and he knew he wouldn't be a perfect father. Daryl felt like he had already been given an extraordinary gift in Beth. She was the love of his life and he couldn't imagine his life without her. But with this baby on the way, Daryl knew without a doubt that he was going to try his damndest to be the father that his old man never had been. He was getting a chance and he sure as hell was not going to blow it. You only got one chance in this life. Daryl was taking his and running with it. He leaned over and kissed Beth again.

"I love you, Beth." He said as he looked into her bright blue-green eyes.

Beth stared right back, a look of wonderment in her eyes. "I love you too."

**Hi I hope you like this little drabble. It was fun to write. It was an idea that had been drifting around in my head for a couple of weeks now. I HAD to write it. I was getting ready to sit down and proof my latest chapter of my Bethyl fic "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down" and my muse said "you should write the drabble first" and I was like no, not happening. But then when I told my good friend this, she told me that I shouldn't piss off the muse. She might go on strike. I decided she was right and it wasn't worth the risk so here we are. :) **


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